Another week, another series of bad news stories for Boeing.

On Monday, 50 people were injured (none were killed) when a 787 “dropped abruptly” midflight from Sydney to Auckland. That same day, the New York Times reported that a Federal Aviation Administration investigation into the production of the 737 Max jets found that the company failed 33 of the 89 product audits at the factory where the planes are being built. The FAA’s inspection was connected to the alarming incident in which a door plug blew out of a Max 9 midflight in January.

Dave Calhoun, the CEO of Boeing, a man groomed in the “screw the last dime out of a company” culture under Jack Welch at General Electric before taking over at Boeing, delivered a gem of management-speak in trying to explain why the company’s 737 MAX jets are so plagued with problems: there had been a “quality escape” on the production line.

Under Calhoun, Boeing, in just four years, has lost all trace of its legendary reputation for pioneering the jet age and keeping a relentless focus on safety.

Innovation is core to America’s success as a great nation.

Innovation not only fueled our economic growth and improved our standard of living, but it helped protect us from the world’s totalitarians. For centuries, American companies have developed new technologies, which have enabled significant global progress.

However, in the process of any great discovery, mistakes are inevitable. Which is why we should measure the true strength of a company by how it responds to its mistakes.